


These Are The Moments

by demonglass



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Sorry, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Pining, Tags Are Hard, college fic, flexible timeline, hajime in denial, rated t for cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-21 01:03:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11933085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonglass/pseuds/demonglass
Summary: "When did you know?"The answer doesn't matter quite as much as the moments that lead up to it.





	These Are The Moments

**Author's Note:**

> Woweee I'm on such a Haikyuu hype train right now, and I may be the only passenger, but I'm passionate enough for a full carriage.
> 
> I probably should have fleshed this out a little more, but I wrote what I had ideas for and I didn't want this to be too similar to anyone else's work because there's only so much these characters can do while they're stuck in college.
> 
> That aside, I hope you enjoy!!

It’s a quiet Sunday night. They’re eating dinner in Hajime’s living room, television broadcasting news he’s only half paying attention to.

“I think we should live together.”

Oikawa’s voice is soft but certain and Hajime’s eyes snap up from his food in an instant, the hush of the tv and taste of sticky rice fading to background noise in his mind. Oikawa is looking at him with a familiar, fierce focus on his face.

“We should find a place in between our schools since they’re not too far apart.”

He barely has to think about it. “Yeah, we should.”

Oikawa nods to cover the smile worming its way onto his face and they go back to their food like nothing happened, but the rest their last year passes by without the weighty fear of separation. Of leaving each other behind.

.

Then they graduate and start the search for a two-bedroom in their budget. The day they find it, the sun is out and they celebrate with popsicles in the warm air. Moving day comes later in the week after the paperwork is all sorted, and by then it’s storming out with a vengeance.

The first round of boxes land on the floor and soon they’re shouting to each other over the sound of the rain, and Hajime has already sweat enough for a full set, but their home is starting to take form so the details aren’t important.

Too many hot, exhausting hours later, the last boxes are finally at the door and their fathers have wisely started the drive home and away from the ever-growing storm. Then, all it takes is one impressive crack of lightning for the power to die.

The apartment falls dark and quiet, save the rain and rumbling of thunder outside the windows. The boxes down the hall from the tiny living room stop sliding against the floor, and Hajime knows what’s coming even before Oikawa’s voice dances through the wall.

“Iwa-chan! Time for a break.”

He must know all too well that Hajime will protest, because he appears in the doorway a moment later and pulls the box out of his hands before he can do anything to stop it.

“We can start again when the power comes back on. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know? Rest is important too.”

“That’s fucking rich coming from you.” Hajime grumbles, but he doesn’t fight Oikawa. A break now will be easier than trying to power through pointless bickering, so he lets himself collapse onto the creaky couch next to Oikawa. He hasn’t done quite this much physical labor all at once since he retired from the volleyball club and he is, admittedly, tired. A good, satisfied sort of tired.

For a while, it’s quiet, and Hajime finds it a nice break from the constant noise of the world. Even Oikawa is surprisingly silent. He’s probably in just as much awe of the little place that really is theirs now.

Then thunder cracks again, louder and stronger than before, and they flinch closer together. In the half-light, they fall comfortable against each other, sagging into the cushions and ignoring the spring heat. Neither of them show any signs of getting up or scooting away and it doesn’t take long for them to fall asleep curled together. None of the boxes move again until the power sputters back on in the morning.

.

Hajime doesn’t see Oikawa or the apartment again until a week before the first term starts. As soon as they get settled in, he leaves to visit his grandparents in his off-time. It hits him sharply, just how hard being away is. He finds himself missing, worrying about the stupid boy he left behind in moments his mind should be occupied with other things.

But he can’t help the persistent whisper of a voice in his head, asking who will be there to keep Oikawa in check? Who’ll make sure he doesn’t overwork himself before the official season even starts? Make sure he doesn’t lock himself out of the apartment because he never uses a keychain? Who will make sure he remembers to sleep? To eat? Remind him to do the physical therapy he hates so much? Who’ll hold him when the weight of the world on his shoulders breaks him down to the ground again, and remind him that it’s okay to fall down as long as you always get back up?

Hajime does his best to drown out the whispers with hard work in his grandfather’s garden and chores for his grandmother, but the desire to get back to his small two-bedroom home with its strange black stains and rusty smelling, never hot enough water doesn’t leave him.

He does his best to ignore the wash of relief that floods him when he steps back into his own hallway, but he feels it in Oikawa’s _“Please tell me your grandfather taught you how to cook more than barely edible Yakisoba this time!”_ And he’s glad neither of them have plans to leave again any time soon.

.

They fall into easy routines after that. Oikawa wakes them up every morning with a pot of strong caffeine filled tea, and Hajime chases them to bed at night with relaxing chamomile. Oikawa walks to school and Hajime takes a train, and it’s harder than high school, but it’s their life now, and Hajime doesn’t think either of them would change it for the world.

Days drag and tumble into months, but the passing moments in the safety of their apartment, of their home, feel like lifetimes of their own. Weekends often start and end with them asleep together on the creaky couch to take some of the sting off the weight of the weeks that come before and after. Those are Hajime’s favorite times; when the wind is at their backs instead of knocking them over.

But there are bad days all too often too. Days when the world feels heavier because Hajime’s alarm always blares too soon for him, and days when he wonders how Oikawa is doing it because Hajime isn’t even playing volleyball and he still feels the intense pressure of his new workload.

And there are worse days. Days when Oikawa’s knee spends more time on ice than off, when his smiles are too fake and forced and he refuses to talk about any of it. Days when he doesn’t even come home until the sun has been below the horizon for hours on end.

Sometimes those are the worst, because they’re nights when Oikawa needs arms around him to stop the shaking he can’t control and the tears that follow far too often. Hajime hates those nights as much as he dreads the way they tear apart his heart.

.

It’s late Wednesday night and the week feels like it should’ve ended hours ago, but Oikawa still isn’t back from the gym, so Hajime keeps chipping away at his homework. He hasn’t looked at a clock in ages, but the last time he did, it was nearing midnight. He’s tried texting, tried calling, but Oikawa is the kind of asshole that turns his phone off when he knows he’s doing something wrong, so there’s nothing for Hajime to do but wait for him to come home and hope that he’s still in one piece.

When his work starts to blur on the page, he gets up and reheats the tea he’d steeped earlier for Oikawa. Back when he still had hope of him coming home at a decent hour. Leaning against the counter waiting for the familiar ding of the microwave, he realizes that he can’t do this anymore. He doesn’t want to spend any more nights like this; waiting, wondering.

So, he decides that as soon as Oikawa gets home, they’re going to have to talk. About how Oikawa is slipping back into the old, bad habits that benched him for the better part of their second year. That sent them tumbling into a spiral Hajime almost thought they’d never pull themselves out of. That almost ruined Oikawa’s bright future and both of their high school lives.

Then the microwave goes off and Hajime tries to ease his nerves with the faint taste of honey while he finishes all his work for the next two days from the kitchen counter, standing so he won’t slip up on his watch and fall asleep.

He doesn’t know what time it is when the door finally clicks open and his eyes jump up with equal parts aggravation and relief. Oikawa startles at the sight of him up and waiting, and the accusatory look on Hajime’s face gains strength. Before he has a chance to come up with a last-ditch excuse, Hajime’s lips spill everything he’s been thinking about since the lonely cup of tea on the counter went cold. He’s not good with feeling or conversations, but he’s had more than enough time to make sure his soft-spoken words carry the right kind of weight.

“Do you remember when your knee went?”

Protests visibly die on Oikawa’s tongue.

“You landed from a jump a little too hand and a little too off and then you just couldn’t move anymore. There was no loud sound, and you didn’t even fall, it just gave out. I know you remember. I know you remember the doctor’s office, the _bench_. I know you don’t ever want to have to do that again, but you’re going to if you keep this up. Staying late at practice, overworking yourself, it’ll only make you better until you crash again.”

For once, smooth talking Oikawa doesn’t have a response.

“You still have so much time, don’t rush yourself. Don’t miss another year. They matter too much now. You matter too much to fuck yourself up again.”

Oikawa looks away from Hajime, to the bag on his shoulder and then the brace on his knee. After a moment, his body sags in silent defeat. “All right.”

Hajime nods, satisfied, and turns to start water boiling while Oikawa slinks away to shower. He leaves the fresh tea steeping in waiting and heads with tired legs back to his own room. The thought of finally being able to sleep heavy and appealing in his mind. He’s changed into softer clothes, killed the lights, and is in the midst of pulling his sheets back when Oikawa appears in his doorway.

“I’ll be home by midnight.” The _always_ and _from now on_ don’t need to be said aloud.

“I’ll drag you back if you’re not.” Hajime tells him matter-of-factly, slipping into the welcoming comfort of his bed.

For a moment, Oikawa looks like he’s going to leave, but he moves forward instead. “I’m glad you’re here,” he says softly.

“I’m always here, asshole.” Hajime mutters. And he pulls him close to make sure he knows he’s serious.

They sleep curled up against each other that early morning; solid, unwavering bodies reassuring after the uncertainty of the night.

Mornings are still too early in the aftermath of their promises, but the nights aren’t as long. Or as empty.

.

Time continues to pass, and summer break comes with a whisper of goodbye and goes with a shout of _“hey asshole, I’m home,”_ and Hajime doesn’t think too much about the leaving part, because he knows they’re always coming back to each other.

Soon the hot air turns cool, and Hajime finally makes it over to watch one of Oikawa’s practice matches. It’s been long enough that he finds himself marveling at Oikawa in ways he forgot he could. As the game rallies on, he remembers how much he misses the part of his life that looked just like this. It’s good though, he thinks. Those were days that came and went and can’t be touched that same way again. And maybe once he’s out of college and has time on the weekends once more, he’ll join a recreational team. But whether he does or doesn’t isn’t something that will change the world, because the forte was always Oikawa’s.

He looks so at home on the court, that Hajime knows beyond a shadow of a doubt, it’s where he belongs. Of course, the desire to play with him again is still inside him, beating at the cages around his heart, but by now it has grown into the larger desire to simply _be_ with him. To stay together. And he is, they are, so he doesn’t let himself think much more about it. He focuses on the familiar sight of the ball moving in time with Oikawa’s body on the court and the cheers of the crowd.

The match ends with Oikawa in high spirits, and that night their tea is sweeter and the bed they collapse into is soft and the perfect size for two tangled bodies to drift off, and Hajime doesn’t wonder about how strange the constant close proximity is, or about how little he minds it.

.

The days dribble on and the cool air hardens into strong, frigid winds. They still have storms every once and a while, but none of them are as bad as the day they first moved in until a late night well into winter.

Oikawa has just gotten out of the shower after a practice ended only slightly early for the weather, when the thunder really picks up. Not three minutes later, lighting is the only thing illuminating the small apartment after the power cuts off and the rooms fall dark. The sound of the heater fades away and Hajime is doused in silence as everything but the rain and still crashing thunder disappears. He loses internet a moment later, and when he heads into the kitchen for candles, Oikawa is already there, lighting them with shaking hands.

“Fine time for the building to go cold,” he mutters down at the matches.

“You’re the one who stayed late at practice even though there was a storm. And you didn’t even dry your hair all the way. No wonder you’re freezing.” Despite all his scolding though, Hajime is already moving to the couch for a blanket. All five candles are lit and the room smells faintly of sugared apples, and Hajime is looking across the counter at Oikawa expectantly.

“Don’t just stand there shivering, idiot. It’s making me cold just looking at you.”

Oikawa grumbles something under his breath, but hurries over before Hajime can change his mind. The room is all but black with only a few candles and the occasional flash of lightning, but it’s been home for so long that it doesn’t faze them in the least. Oikawa finds his way under the blanket and next to Hajime and they find the couch together, collapsing on stiff muscles and curling into the warmth of each other.

Thunder interrupts the rain again, but other than that, the world remains relatively quiet, and in a moment with no distractions, Hajime has a chance to think. He’s reminded of the day they moved all their stuff in; the storm and the dark and Oikawa silent in his arms where they lay on the couch. The first day he was absolutely sure with every ounce of his heart that he really was going to spend the next solid years of his life with Oikawa. They ended up just like this that day too.

And he thinks, for the first time in anything more than passing, that it really is strange how often it happens. And how little he cares. And isn’t it strange just how quickly time is passing? Just how much already has? Because he remembers this feeling from a few months ago, but he remembers it just as clearly from days in their third year of high school when they were sure they could conquer volleyball and the world. And the year before that when they were still finding the strength to get back to their feet after crumbling under the weight of Oikawa’s injury. And it’s been three years since these moments became commonplace and so much has changed.

But how many more years will they last? As soon as college ends there will be nothing to string them together anymore. Oikawa will go off to a better place to play volleyball and Hajime will head towards whatever job he scrapes together. They’ll almost certainly end up far too far apart. He hasn’t really considered it until now, just how much that thought makes his stomach turn.

So much has changed, but one thing remains the same. He doesn’t want to leave. He’s not entirely sure what he _does_ want until Oikawa sighs into his shoulder and in the blink of an eye he realizes just how much of a fool he is.

What he wants is this. These moments. Every ounce of closeness they have now and more. He wants Oikawa.

Thunder shakes the apartment and rattles Hajime down to his bones, and he lets the thought slip out before he loses the nerve.

“I think I’m in love with you.”

Oikawa stiffens like he’s been slapped, and after a considerable pause, pulls away to stare at Hajime with wide, glowing eyes.

“What?”

“I’m in love with you.”

It’s like a weight falling off his chest and onto Oikawa’s. Heavy truths have crushed them before, and for a moment, he’s worried one – _this one_ – will again, because Oikawa is staring at him with a strange, flickering look on his face, and Hajime can barely breathe.

Then lightning flashes to break the moment and thunder crashes to end the silence.

“Is that a problem?”

Oikawa smiles one of his stupid, happy, genuine smiles that hold no motive or secret, and Hajime’s heartbeat suddenly feels stronger against his ribs as air rushes back into his lungs.

“It hasn’t been a problem for years.” Oikawa laughs and his eyes glisten like he’s about to cry.

Hajime finds himself smiling, and then Oikawa is kissing him and he’s kissing Oikawa, and he decides that this is it. These are the moments he wants to live again and again for the rest of his life. And it’s not a problem for Oikawa so it’s not a problem for him. And that’s all that really matters.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I wrote this mostly to spread the headcanon that even though IwaOi are going to different uni's, they're still close enough to each other to live together.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this, and if you want to drop some kudos and comments that'd be rad.


End file.
